Not every business can afford a big-name advertising agency but not all businesses need one. If you have professional designers on your team consider yourself lucky. Take them to lunch and ask them if they need supplies, computer upgrades or training. They will love you for it and reward you with quality work done in a timely manner. I am always amazed when I learn of large creative departments that don’t have the basic tools they need to function efficiently.

If you don’t have a creative department of your own—freelance creative directors (like me), designers, copywriters and photographers can be found through advertising clubs and associations. Professional freelancers aren’t cheap but they cost much less than an advertising agency. As a matter of fact, many freelancers have ad agencies as clients. 

Here are five tips to help save time and money when working with your creative team. Inhouse, freelance or agency, these tips will keep the creative process flowing smoothly.

1. Involve the designer in your project from the start. This will give them valuable insight into your goals. The designer may even be able to suggest alternative ways to meet those goals that can save money on paper, printing and mailing.
2. Always provide correct information to the designer. Revisions caused by wrong information are a complete waste of time and money and happen all the time.
3. Involve as few people as possible in the approval process. Office and family politics often play a very expensive role in which everyone suffers, including the final product and budget.
4. Allow time for production. Designers all too often hear “it’s approved, send it to the printer NOW because they’re waiting.” The digital proof used for the approval process can’t be used for professional printing. A new file must be created and this can sometimes be very time consuming because it involves specialized knowledge of the production and printing process. This process varies with every print job and from printer to printer. Rushing here causes mistakes that result in the job having to be reprinted at an additional cost. 
5. Check with the post office during the design process or sooner about mailing rules, regulations and costs. If the direct mail piece needs to be hand-sorted because it was designed with the fold on the wrong side, there will be an additional cost for each piece. Iron out these costly details before it’s printed.

Businesses that stop advertising during slow periods allow their competitors advertising to have greater visibility. Prices have been reduced recently on advertising space, why not ask your print sales reps about these discounts? With a little planning, communication and the right team, you really can afford to advertise.

I’ve lost count of the number of times that I have been out walking my dog and people have stopped me and asked for directions to the old Chippewa Lake Park. The amusement park operated from 1878 through 1978 when it was closed for lack of attendance, so they say. As a local, I have heard rumors of other reasons why it closed but that’s of no consequence now. Chippewa Lake Park has stood forgotten for 31 years, many rides frozen in time exactly as they were on that final day. 

Most of the curious drivers looking for the park are over the age of 50 and have a few quick memories of the park to share with me from their car windows. Having been raised in Medina County and now living and working here at the lake I have my share of these memories too. Dad worked at Ford Motors in Cleveland and they had their yearly company picnic at “Chip”. Mom worked at Medina’s National Disposal and they had theirs here, too. It was THE place to go.

Growing up, Mom was always telling me stories of living here when I was 6-months-old. She worked at the park for 75 cents an hour selling tickets to ride the Caterpillar and about Nickel Day, when admittance was only 5 cents. Now I’ve lived here for 10 years and my husband for almost 30. We’ve hiked the overgrown trails and picked blackberries on the abandoned park land. Like our neighbors, we have a passion for the area.

Recently I’ve been asked how I feel about the old park being sold. In 2008, Chippewa Partners LLC purchased the land and plan on turning it into a massive resort called “Chippewa Landing”. The $100 million proposed development will include a hotel, spa, five-star restaurant, theater and Biltmore-style manor house. I tell friends that I’ve taken a “wait-and-see” attitude especially since I’ve read that as many as 300 full-time jobs could be created. That would be a great thing for this area and our economy. As I get older, I am learning that change comes whether you like it or not and sometimes, looking back, things really are better. I’ll just have to wait and see.

Chippewa Partners deserves kudos for ingenious public relations work for opening the park to visitors on the weekends. Kids have been sneaking in there for years. Adults like myself who knew the danger, now get to go in and safely see everything. Check out my pictures taken in April 2009 on my Facebook fan page and become a fan of Komjati Design, Inc., too.

Last summer a horror movie was filmed in the old park and it is due to be released this year sometime. Check out the movie trailer for “Closed For The Season”. You’ll recognize lots of scenes of areas that are also in my photos.